


The many ways of love (let me teach them all to you)

by PotatoEmpress



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, More like What Makes the Heart Bleed, What Makes the Sky Blue III: 000 (Granblue Fantasy), i'm not crying, you're crying
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-10-27 13:53:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17768024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PotatoEmpress/pseuds/PotatoEmpress
Summary: Sandalphon has waited two millenia for someone, anyone at all, to tell him that he mattered. Only to be taught by a mortal child that before all else, you need to matter to yourself first.*Crying all night over WMTSB has inspired another chapter flavoured with the saltiness of my tears, original chapter 3 being reworked to be canon compliant





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> 10 more days till Sandalphon is out. My greatest regret in life was starting GBF after WMTSB 2 ended. This is me trying to reconcile my angst in the form of a fic. 
> 
> Happy Valentine's Kuroshi~ 
> 
> I PROMISE THAT IM WORKING ON THE PAJITA FIC Q.Q I have 1/2 of the last chapter written and a bonus Q.Q

Even as he curls his long elegant fingers around hers in the facsimile of a handshake, Sandalphon can’t help but marvel at how tiny and delicate the Singularity’s hands are. How is it that such a frail mortal body can even contain a soul powerful enough to change the course of the world? A burning rage surges up within him at that thought. It is as if the fates are mocking his purposeless existence with this child who stands before him, oblivious to the potential she holds. 

All those centuries trapped in that cage questioning the meaning of his life while staring at, but never seeing, the endless blue sky above. A life not lived, he had waited so long for salvation, which would not come, that the passing of day and night bleed into an eternal twilight. The only thing he had known for two thousand years, was the absence of hope.

And yet before him is a being who has never known despair. Wretched he may be, but Sandalphon is not a selfish creature. He wants to share the bitter taste of desolation with her.

There is something in the Singularity’s eyes, an emotion he cannot give a name to, something akin to pity, but not quite. All he knows is that her gaze stings him, like salt applied to an open wound and he wants to hurt her for it. Spite may be for children but Sandalphon was never truly given the chance to grow into anything before he had everything ripped from him. He has no need for a world in which he has no place. And the Singularity is the embodiment of all that he wants but cannot have. Everything he dreams of becoming but isn’t. He remembers the way the girl in blue had looked at her upon their reunion, all relief and affection and love. In the moment that he shoves the Singularity off the cliff, he regrets nothing. 

It is only much later when he feels his form dissipating and the warmth of Lucifer’s wings enfolding him that he feels a tinge of contrition. Even after she had returned from the bottom of the sky, the Singularity’s eyes had held no blame or resentment. It would have been easier if she had hated him, but there was only that same unfathomable expression from before. His last thought before his world fades to white is maybe, just maybe, it looked as if the Singularity was trying hard to understand. Even if it was a figment of his imagination, the thought brings a small semblance of peace to a heart that is unable to love itself.

All Sandalphon had ever wanted, was for someone to tell him that he mattered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting the long one in before GW starts later today.
> 
> Some Flame Emperor to spice things up a little.

The gentle rays of the rising sun filter through the windows of the Grandcypher and washes the pantry in a golden glow. Sandalphon savors the quiet moment before the rest of the crew awakens and begin to wreak havoc as he nurses a cup of steaming coffee in his hands. But he know this peace is not to last. As if summoned by his thoughts, a blonde head peeks through the doorway with a cheery morning greeting. 

Stifling a sigh, the fifth Primarch briskly abandons his seat and moves to pour a cup of tea from the pot nestled next to his coffee drip. 

The grin on Djeeta’s face is wide enough to split it in half as she happily accepts the over sweetened abomination from Sandalphon. Five spoons of sugar and two fingers of milk, Sandalphon is sure there is barely any tea left in there and he does not hesitate to make his distaste known. But he is quickly silenced with a cheeky quip “it doesn’t stop you from making it for me every morning does it?”

While watching the Singularity gulp down her vile concoction, he muses on how indeed he has settled into such domesticity. Against his better judgement, he had accepted the Singularity’s invitation to join her crew of misfits despite the burning glares shot at him from a number of crew members, in particular one who he had later found out bore the title of Emperor of Flames. He had been vehement in his protests but they had fallen upon deaf ears. 

While the newly appointed Supreme Primarch had claimed that his acceptance was to better enable him to carry out his predecessor’s final wish, a part of him cannot deny that in the glow of the Singularity’s warm smile, he had felt just a little less alone. 

It is said that discretion is sometimes the better part of valor and considering that he had once pushed the Singularity off the edge of the known world, he had thought it prudent to not draw any attention. But for those first few weeks, it seemed as if the captain had developed the nose of a hunting hound for him. 

Despite his best efforts to keep to himself, she and her red and blue shadows would undoubtedly find him and yank him out of whichever dark corner of the ship he was lurking in. And she somehow managed to pull it all off with a blithful air or innocence making it impossible for him to direct any anger towards her.

The edges of his mouth curl into a smile as he remembers how, after multiple morning coffee sessions, the Singularity had caved and finally admitted that she hated the taste of coffee. It had been obvious to Sandalphon from her grimace at each mouthful despite the chirpy demeanor she had tried to cover it up with.

He was surprised that she had even held out that long, but he could not deny, that having been in that same position himself before, he was touched by her efforts to include him into her crew. The way her face had lit up when she saw the freshly brewed pot of tea next to the coffee maker the following day made Sandalphon’s chest tighten in a way he rather not think about.

A hand rudely intruding into his line of sight snaps him out of his reverie and his inhuman reflexes kick in as he reaches out to still its motions.

“Grandcypher to Sandalphon, yoohoo, have you gone to Vryn apple land?”

The Supreme Primarch sniffs haughtily.

“Nonsense Singularity, as you can clearly see, I am obviously still here.”

The mischievous grin on the Singularity’s face softens into a gentle smile that causes a painful twinge in Sandalphon’s heart. He knows this feeling, has experienced it before in a different life, but he is afraid to examine it more closely, fearful of what he might find. So he does what all those in denial do best and ignores it entirely.

“As I was saying, you seem to be more settled nowadays, look, you’re not even running to wash your hands with acid after touching me!” the captain of the Grandcypher jokes to lighten the suddenly sombre mood. 

Startled, Sandalphon realises his fingers are still curled around the Singularity’s delicate wrist and he quickly releases her.

“Sandalphon...are you...blushing?”

The Singularity’s innocent query has his hands flying to his face, whether to hide or to ascertain her claim for himself, he is unsure. As she leans in closer to inspect his face, Sandalphon instinctively backpedals, nearly falling off his chair in a bid to escape her scrutiny. 

His flustered actions are a far cry from his usual stoic self and it is disconcerting that she can so easily make him lose him composure. Before he can bite back a scathing response or flee, a questioning “Danchou?” rings out from the doorway of the pantry.

Recognizing the deep timbre of the voice, the features of Sandalphon’s face unknowingly contorts into a frown. Like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar, the Singularity jerks herself away from him and quickly turns to face the Flame Emperor who seems more than a little out of place in all his armored glory by the simple wooden door. 

“Percival?”

Sandalphon does not miss the mirrored look of dislike on the Lord of Flames face as their gazes meet, neither does he miss how that expression quickly morphs into a more pleasant one as his eyes shift to the Singularity 

“Danchou, you were late for our morning practice so I came to find you. Is everything well?” It is impossible to miss the veiled insinuation that the Supreme Primarch may have caused distress to the girl before him. 

“AM I LATE? WHAT TIME IS IT?” Alarmed, the captain of the Grandcypher whips her head to the clock on the wall. 

“Oh no, Percival, I’m so sorry! I lost track of time while talking to Sandalphon, just give me a minute!” The Singularity is a whirl of motion as she grabs her cup, downs it in one shot and checks the belts and sword on her person before jumping out of her chair and running backwards towards the door all the while speaking to her two companions.

“I’m sorry I need to cut our conversation short Sandalphon but I gotta go! Same time tomorrow k?” And he can’t help but think that her question sounds more like a promise as she backs up towards the door and her waiting sparring partner.

“I can’t stop you from coming here, it is your ship after all.”

Sandalphon is oblivious to the disgruntled tone in his reply. Irritance gnawing away at him at having the Singularity’s attention being drawn away, though he himself has yet to realise it. 

Being who she is, Sandalphon’s huffy retort bounces right off the Singularity and to his chagrin and possibly the Flame Emperor’s great displeasure, she winks as she points to him in response. “It’s a date then!” 

In her haste she stumbles a little over her own feet as she reaches her fiery-haired sparring partner, and Percival reaches out to steady her with a protective arm around a shoulder. 

Sandalphon’s eyes narrow as he notes how the Singularity seems to unconsciously lean into the Lord of Flames’ touch as he pulls her closer. There is something ugly rearing its head in his chest and when Percival gives him one last glance as the pair turns down the corridor, he is sure the expression on his own face is just as menacing. 

It will be quite a while before Sandalphon is able to recognize this ugly emotion for what it is and even longer before he is willing to admit that the Singularity is the root of these feelings that he thought he had long put to rest.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So What makes the sky blue 3 came out, made my heart bleed, made me cry my eyes out and generally just ripped the feels from my chest. Flb San chan is the best birthday present I have ever received so I spent the entire night crying over him and writing this chapter. 
> 
> WARNING, DONT READ IF YOU HAVENT PLAYED WMTSB3 YET, THIS CHAPTER IS A MINEFIELD OF SPOILERS!
> 
> Original chapter 3 has been yanked down and will be reworked to be canon compliant cause angsting and angry San chan when he meets Lucio is so precious Iduneven, so don't worry, crying San chan will be back, I love his tortured face too much to not have it in this fic.
> 
> DID ANYONE ELSE SCREAM WHEN THE LITTLE SHIT FINALLY CALLS YOU CAPTAIN INSTEAD OF SINGULARITY??!!
> 
> the upgrade from 特異点 to 団長 made my feels explode (as did everything else in WMTSB) more like What makes my heart bleed

Somehow, it doesn’t even surprise Sandalphon anymore that it takes the catastrophe of the near destruction of the Sky Realm and the annihilation of everything he has ever known, for him to finally recognize that twinge in his heart whenever he is with the Singularity. His growth in the emotional department has, as Michael had very bluntly put it, always been stunted compared to the other archangels. The recent events with Lucilius and Belial which resulted in his own halting development has made him well aware of his shortcomings and also unfortunately to the roiling mess of emotions whenever the captain of the Grandcypher comes to mind.

In retrospect, it has also been a fair amount of time since he has last referred to her as the “Singularity”. Somewhere in between the defeat of the fallen angels and the mad race to stop Etemenanki from ripping apart the boundaries of the worlds before sinking into the Crimson Horizon, Sandalphon finds that he can no longer look upon this girl-child, no, young woman as a mere aberration of fate. Even he is unsure of how he had slipped so easily and, without his awareness and consent, into acknowledging her as his captain, the same way she has slipped into and filled two millenia worth of cracks in his soul.

But still he struggles with his words and with his heart. That shaded garden, that last cup of coffee, that understanding gaze, “I’ll be waiting”, all weigh heavily on his conscience. It feels almost like betrayal to even acknowledge these new tentative feelings budding in his chest even as he takes comfort in the scent of freshly brewed coffee and the reminder that he will always be that person’s “solace”. 

But the more time he spends with the golden trio, the more these unfamiliar feelings surge up with each new interaction. Although he tries to keep his distance, scoffing at the silly ideas of a Sandalphon cafe, protesting against the shopping trips for new china and beans and tableware, his mind unwittingly carefully wraps and packs each precious experience, carving it into his memory. His body is quickly becoming used to responding to the Captain’s firm hold rather than Lucifer’s light touch, his heart starting to waver more at the warmth in her grins than his predecessor’s gentle smile. 

Every moment with her is happiness laced with agony, filled with a painful hopefulness, for what, he cannot say. But yet more and more he is drawn to her, a moth to her flame. Lucifer cannot be replaced, he repeats this mantra over and over again in his mind, even as her face flickers at the edges of his thoughts. The last time he had been filled with such turmoil had been during Belial’s revelation of Lucifer’s sacrifice to keep his seraphim cradle safe at the cost of his own life. It had been the captain who had pulled him back into sanity while he tethered at the edge of despair. How ironic it is that his one lifeline back then would now become the rope by which he would hang. Even his guiding light is unable to illuminate the path he must take as he lingers between crossroads, torn between admitting to his new growing affections and fearing the loss of his old ones in the process. The only thing he is conscious of is how it hurts to be near his captain, to have her so close but be utterly incapable of using words to cross the distance between them even as yet another crew member steals her focus from him. So Sandalphon deals with it in the only way he knows how. Retreat. He is now painfully aware of how much Lucifer had doted upon his younger counterpart, for the one thing he never had to ask for, never had to share, was his unequivocal attention.

The captain in question of course is not oblivious to the plight of her resident Supreme Primarch. For all his millenia of existence, Sandalphon is more transparent than the waters of Auguste when it comes to his emotions. For awhile after the downfall of Lucilius and Belial, it seemed that the grumpy archangel had started to open up, his footsteps lighter and his smiles coming a little easier and she treasures each moment she sees his frown melt from his face into contentment. After all, it is hard not to be conscious of so beautiful and ethereal a being in her crew, despite his reticent manner and the jagged edges of his personality. She supposed that she must have issues if she can find charm even in his petulant behaviour. 

For all her efforts to shower her care equally upon each member of her crew, Djeeta cannot deny that a few in particular have captured her affections more deeply than the others. Her longtime companion Vryn and her other half Lyria are without a doubt amongst those she counts closest to her heart, as well as the original members of the Grandcypher crew and a fiery haired knight who never fails to set her face aflame. However, recently her heartbeat has started to become more erratic in the presence of a certain Supreme Primarch and whenever that now peaceful smile is turned upon her, she suddenly finds herself flustered and grasping blindly for words. Djeeta is unsure if this is a result of how enamored her other self has become with the archangel, but she finds that slowly, he too had wormed his way into becoming someone of great importance in her life. Though if she is to be entirely honest, from the moment she had jumped unthinkingly onto the Nightcypher, instincts screaming at her to halt his descent, the one who had truly fallen had probably been her. 

But as of late she has noticed a sudden withdrawal back into his shell. Snappy remarks and quick disappearances litter their recent conversations but she is certain that she has caught glimpses of a guilty gaze upon her when the ruby-eyed Primarch thinks she is not looking. Djeeta did not become the Captain of so renown a crew just by looking cute. Her strong intuition and head-strong nature has never steered her wrong and at the moment it is directing her to the cabin of a disgruntled archangel. She in not entirely sure of what has caused this sudden change in Sandalphon and his regression back to a sulking shadow in her crew, but she sure as hell is not going to let him continue wallowing in his misery. Well, at the very least stop him from wallowing alone.


End file.
